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April 10, 2005
Gagged
Regardless of whether the anti-Japanese protests on Saturday were tacitly government approved or not, the Beijing authorities are wary of things going too far too quickly:
BEIJING MEDIA COLLECTIVELY SILENT ON PROTESTS
MONDAY, 11 APRIL, LAST UPDATED 05:05
Ming Pao: Tens of thousands of citizens participated in anti-Japanese rallies in Beijing on Saturday, focused at the Japanese embassy. However, all Beijing newspapers published yesterday were collectively silent, not mentioning the largest self-organized public protest demonstration since 1989. A media worker in Beijing says that the publications' administrations have issued “gag orders,” forcing the media to play dumb.
Over 10 Beijing newspapers silent on anti-Japanese protests
Our reporter went through more than 10 Beijing newspapers published yesterday, and cannot find any mention of Saturday's rallies, ranging from party newspapers such as the People's Daily by the CCP central apparatus and the Beijing Daily by the Beijing city apparatus, to the reader-oriented Beijing News and Legal Evening News.
Mainland Internet media, besides the very short report by Xinhuanet on the day of the protest, also did not report on the internationally noticed rallies. All local electronic media also have not reported on the demonstration.
Editor: reluctantly executing “gag order”
An editor from one Beijing newspaper says that media in the capital are not ignoring the rallies, but the administrators have sent “no reporting” directives, which the media must “execute if they understand, and execute if they don't.” The editor says that he feels personally helpless about the circumstances.
Worried about “example effect” on other regions
It is reported that the authorities ordered media silence not because they disapprove of the people's anti-Japanese rallies, but primarily to avoid any “example effect.” Because the capital is the political centre, authorities are concerned that media reports may affect other regions of the country, sending the situation out of control.
Zhong Guohua, Ming Pao Beijing correspondent
無論週六北京反日示威是否得到中央默許也好，北京當局已經採取行動，避免事情一發不可收拾。
Posted by Kelvin at April 10, 2005 6:19 PM
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» Anti-Japan riots in China from Simon World
The anti-Japan riots in China over the weekend are an indication of both the depths of feeling amongst the Chinese public and the difficulty the Chinese Government is having in putting a lid on the nationalist frenzy it has whipped up. The Government h... [Read More]
Tracked on April 10, 2005 8:51 PM
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